KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SENATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ALMATY 001575 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN (J. MUDGE) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EAID PARM EPET KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: AMBASSADOR MEETS WITH SENATE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN REF: 05 Almaty 2833 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Senate and Mazhilis are working to finalize amendments to the Law on International Agreements, according to the chairman of the Senate Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and Security. The two houses will establish a reconciliation committee to reach agreement on how to revise the amendments to make it clear that valid international agreements take precedence over domestic law, a point that has been causing difficulty for U.S. assistance programs and other important agreements. Legislation ratifying the Biological Weapons Convention is with a reconciliation committee for technical fixes. End summary. ¶2. (U) The Ambassador met with Akhan Bizhanov, Chair of Senate Committee on International Affairs, Defense, and Security, in Astana on April 26. He was accompanied by USAID country officer and POEC chief. -------------- Law on International Agreements -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Bizhanov about the status of amendments to the Law on International Agreements (reftel), noting that the new law had caused confusion regarding the status of the 1992 Bilateral Assistance Agreement and the tax exempt nature of U.S. assistance. Bizhanov told the Ambassador that parliament was working on amendments to law in order to clarify the fact that ratified international agreements take precedence over domestic law, as specified in the Constitution. The two houses had not yet reached agreement on an approach, however. Bizhanov said that the Senate had objected to the amendments as passed by the Mazhilis, which specified that international agreements signed prior to the adoption of the Kazakhstani Constitution in 1995 should be enforced in accordance with their terms (without ratification). He told the Ambassador that the Mazhilis language would have contradicted the Constitution by giving too broad a range of international agreements precedence over Kazakhstani law. ¶4. (SBU) Bizhanov said the Senate had deleted Article 20.2, which specifies that in case of conflict a ratified international agreement takes precedence over domestic law, and sent the legislation back to the Mazhilis for consideration. He claimed that Article 20.2 was unnecessary, as Article 20.1 states that valid international agreements must be observed. (Note: The Senate's version of the amendments is therefore silent on the question of precedence. End note.) According to Bizhanov, modifying the Law on International Agreements in this way will ensure that agreements concluded before 1995, when ratification became possible, will remain in force because the law cannot retroactively change their status. Bizhanov noted that a Constitutional Council interpretation from 2000 supported this view. (Note: This clarification is needed not only for our Bilateral Assistance Agreement, but also for key pending agreements such as the BTC IGA. End note.) ¶5. (SBU) Bizhanov said that Deputy Kiselev, the Mazhilis member who had drafted the amendments, had agreed with the Senate approach. He promised to meet with his Mazhilis counterpart Serik Abdrakhmanov in the near future to resolve the issue, given the difficulty it was causing for USG assistance programs. The amendment will now go to a reconciliation committee; once the committee reaches agreement, both houses will need to pass the text. Bizhanov thought it might be possible to pass the amendments before the summer recess. -------------- Ratification of Biological Weapons Convention -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador asked Bizhanov about the status of legislation ratifying the Biological Weapons Convention, important for Kazakhstan's efforts to participate in the Global Partnership and the MTCR. Bizhanov said that there had been technical errors in the draft forwarded by the Mazhilis, which the Senate had corrected and sent back to the Mazhilis for approval. He commented that it was very important for Kazakhstan to ratify the BWC and there were no substantive roadblocks to doing so; a conciliation committee ALMATY 00001575 002 OF 002 would finalize the draft. ORDWAY